Golfer Zethu Myeki started playing golf on the soccer fields in her hometown in the Eastern Cape. They were playing as part of an initiative of the South African Golf Development Board. “For me, it was love at first sight,” she muses. She’d stare at the girls hitting balls on the field and always wanted to join in and play. “I was too afraid to go up to them and ask but luckily the girl I sat next to in class was one of those girls,” she recalls. She scored an invite and everything snowballed from there. She was snapped up as a talented player by the The Ernie Els and Fancourt Foundation. Now, she’s one to watch on the field, having won the Standard Bank Pro-Am at Parkview in 2021. In 2022, Zethu made several Top 5 finishes and she’s working hard during this current golfing season.
We sat down with her to talk about her training and how she prepares for games.
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Golfers workout, too.
It’s a big misconception that golf is a lazy sport. Your core, arms and legs get a workout from swinging the club to aim the ball over long distances into one tiny hole, aeons away. “On a usual day for me, I warm up on the treadmill for 15 minutes, and then stretch before my workout and then move on to my focus muscle group for the day,” says Zethu. “On a legs day (usually a Monday), [I do] squats, deadlifts, leg presses, lunges and leg extensions. Legs and core exercises are a huge focus for golfers. You need a strong core to make those shots.”
“You need a strong core to make those shots”
zethu myeki
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How Zethu Myeki finds focus
A big part of the game is focusing. There’s brain work to be had; settling the mind before making a shot and making every one count. To that end, Zethu works with a sport psychologist and does meditation to find her centre. “It’s not easy, because we play for long hours,” she says. “To meditate, I usually select a meditation from YouTube and I also enjoy yoga. When I am playing, I switch on and off between shots and focus on something else – there’s no way you can focus for four hours, so I like chatting with my caddy. I try and then zone in for the next shot.”
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